Cambridge native moves on after 25-year ride atop L.A. radio market

Wednesday

Aug 22, 2012 at 10:53 AMAug 22, 2012 at 10:57 AM

Brian Phelps is 1977 Cambridge High grad

Radio is, at the same time, fun, and a funny (as in weird) business. Believe me, I know. Longevity is not one of the strong points. Endearment to radio personalities is. Southern California experienced an “earthquake,” of sorts, Friday morning when “The Mark & Brian Show” came to an end. It is important to note that Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps, co-hosts of the zany, drive-time L.A. talk show, were consistently No. 1 in the highly competitive, second-largest radio market in the nation all 25 years they were on the air. Twenty-five years. Some radio stations aren’t on the air that long. It is also important to note that Brian Phelps is from Cambridge, Ill. Grew up here and graduated from Cambridge High School in 1977.His father died years ago. His mother, Zelma, lives in Kewanee, where she works at the Senior Citizen Center.How a Cambridge boy got from here to the top of a major radio market we’ll get to in a minute.When the duo arrived in Los Angeles in 1987 from a station in Birmingham, Ala., Rick Dees owned the airwaves. Superjocks, like Howard Stern, came and went. Ryan Seacrest, who hosts a morning drive-time radio show opposite the pair, never beat them in the ratings. In the aftermath, radio analysts have contended it was Phelps and Thompson’s down-home, folksy charm and friendliness, something they drew from their small-town beginnings in the Midwest and South, but new to the California radio scene in 1987, that endeared them to KLOS-FM listeners whose day simply could not start without a cup of joe and Mark and Brian’s crazy antics and interviews with top celebrities.As for the end of an era, Thompson announced in June that as the contracts each had with station owners were expiring, rather than negotiate another, he decided to move to North Carolina and enjoy life with his wife and three now-grown children. No hard feelings, just time to head in a different direction.As the last show for he and Thompson arrived on Friday, speculation had been swirling all week about what Phelps, still in negotiations on his next contract, would do. It was an emotional morning, not only for Mark and Brian, but for loyal fans, many of whom had grown up wondering what the wacky pair were going to do next.In 1991, Mark and Brian won an Emmy for hosting an Andy Griffith special, and were famously barred from Graceland, Elvis Presley’s Memphis home, for surreptitiously recording a show from inside.They supposedly tried to make amends by traveling cross-country to Memphis with a huge Elvis head from a Tournament of Roses parade float — a stunt that further infuriated Graceland officials, but that was Mark and Brian at their on-air best.According to Pop & Hiss, the L.A. Times’ music blog, posting Friday afternoon, Phelps had been in talks with the station’s parent company, Cumulus Media, but said he broke those off Thursday when the sides hadn’t come to terms. He announced during the farewell morning show that instead he’s launching a podcast with actress and comedian Jill Whelan, now grown up but remembered as Captain Stubbing’s pre-teen daughter on “The Love Boat.” “She’s hilarious,” Phelps told listeners. “We’ve known each other for years. We’re comedy soul mates.” He said he and Whelan had already agreed to do the podcast, even before talks with KLOS fell through.“I just felt it was time to stop,” Phelps said. “I want to take a year. And I want to kind of recharge. I might return. I don’t know. But for now, I want to leave and go have fun on a podcast with my dear friend Jill.”He said he wants to take a few weeks off before launching the podcast, at brianandjillshow.com. With a podcast, fans can either hear it online or download the show and listen at their leisure. The format is flexible for the hosts as well — Phelps said he’s looking forward to not getting up at 3 a.m. every weekday to work on the live radio show.Thompson is also starting his own podcast with his wife of 30 years at markandlynda.us, which aired Monday from their Charlotte, N.C. home. “Mark & Brian” fans didn’t have to go through withdrawal very long. Monday, the show was scheduled to go on vacation until Sept. 4, with KLOS airing “best of” shows.Monday the classic rock radio station announced they will replace the beloved duo with Heidi Hamilton and Frank Kramer, who have been hosting radio shows for the past 12 years and are currently doing a subscription-only Internet show. They take the air at KLOS on Sept. 4.What was the secret to Mark and Brian’s success? I think it has something to do with what we learned when I worked at WKEI in the 1970s. We were only there to push the buttons. Make listeners the stars, put them on the air and have fun with on-air contests, silly remotes and various stunts that make ordinary people the talk of the town.Anyone remember “The Lake Street Lady?” or Gene Martin and Dave Stone broadcasting live for the first time from an airplane flying over Kewanee for National Radio Month?But how we interact and are entertained is rapidly changing. After Cambridge High, Phelps went to Illinois State University, then into comedy and joined up with Thompson in 1986 at a station in Alabama. From there, they “jumped into” the L.A. radio market.With today’s technology, all of that could have been accomplished in a fraction of the time. The move by two popular radio legends onto their own podcasts is probably a smart move. The Internet is changing the world and it’s better to be a leader than a follower. To hear Brian’s farewell announcement from Friday’s show, go to their website: www.markandbrian.com.